The bypass of Poteau, OK (Cavanal Scenic Expressway, Bypass US 59) is slightly shorter than the old route through town. It is much quicker as there are no lights on it, despite its slow speed limit of 55 (the 2 lane roads on either side of the bypass are 65.) Are there any other bypasses that are shorter than the route through town?
I-8 and US-80 can be considered this way, as a Phoenix bypass vs. a through route.
US-99 Ridge Route Alternate (1931) was much shorter than the Ridge Route segment it replaced, mainly due to engineering advances that made the road a lot less winding.
it would be interesting to identify the shortest pair of segments, each of which is signed as a different route (whether different numbers, bypass/business, main/alternate designation, etc), which fits this criterion. your US-59 example is quite short.
I guess this rules out bypasses like I-68 Sideling Hill, which also carries US 40 on a much shorter route than the original - you're specifically looking for shorter bypasses of towns, right? I know a lot of US 66 bypasses ended up being shorter because of the turns the original route would take through town, especially on up through Illinois where 66 heads diagonally.
Another - Truck US 19 / US 19 north of Pittsburgh, Truck route is shorter. Quite possibly south of Pittsburgh, as well.
US 101 originally was routed Coos Bay-Coquille-Bandon. The distance was 39 miles. A new section of 101 was completed in 1961 that bypassed a good-sized chunk of the original 101 and the result was a distance of 23 miles between Bandon and Coos Bay.
Another example of where new sections of 101 (completed in 1965) shortened distance over the old one is between Gold Beach and Brookings. The former distance was 40 miles. The new sections of 101 made it 27 miles.
A goodly number of other bypasses of old 101 made the new 101 shorter and if things had been done any better, the Columbia would be the border between Washington and California...LOL! Old 101 was a crooked narrow terrain-following affair. The postwar period from 1947 to the early 1970's saw considerable improvement thanks to the bypassing of the old sections. Today it's fun to follow those former 101 sections and see some pretty interesting back country, much of which is rather well-settled in a rural fashion as compared to the newer sections with much less heritage.
Rick
I'm thinking most of M-60's realignments would fit this thread, most noticably the ones around Union City and Tekonsha.
I assume you mean shorter in terms of distance rather than time, right? The bypass that readily comes to my mind is the realignment of US-29 near Lynchburg, Virginia, onto the Madison Heights Bypass. It's eight-tenths of a mile longer distance-wise than taking the old route, but it's substantially faster due to the absence of traffic lights and the higher speed (a 70-mph speed limit was posted earlier this month, Virginia's first 70-mph speed limit on a non-Interstate in the post-NMSL era). But that sort of thing isn't really all that remarkable because it's common for a bypass to be a higher-speed route that is supposed to save time even if the distance is longer.
To give an example more in keeping with the distance model, I-475 around Macon is an example of a 3di bypass having a shorter distance than the 2di route through the city. It saves around six miles. I don't know whether it was built later than I-75, so I don't know if the "original route" terminology is appropriate.
US 61 in Duluth used to have the "bypass" straight thru, whereas 61 ran a few blocks up the hill, then came back down
US 71 bypass in Alexandria, LA is 0.9 miles shorter. It gets routed onto I-49 which is a much straighter shot than MacArthur Drive around town
And US 165 in Monroe, LA is 1.8 shorter than the original alignment
US 11 around Brasher Falls and Winthrop; the old route is now NY 11C.
Route 36 from Mineral eastward to east of Mill Creek is 7 miles long, while Route 172 (the older alignment) is 9.1 miles.
Route 9 from Boulder Creek north to Castle Rock State Park is 7 miles long, supplanting the old alignment along Route 236 through Big Basin which is 17 miles long.
Current US 101 on the Bayshore and Central Freeways is approximately 76 miles from Gilroy to San Francisco's Alemany Maze interchange, while the old Monterey Road/El Camino Real/Southern Freeway routing (now Business US 101, Route 82, and I-280) from pre-1964 is 78.6 miles.
I didn't think this thread was about realignments of highways, but rather that an entirely different route, intended to be a bypass, is shorter than the 'through' route. Otherwise, wouldn't almost every realignment be shorter? Isn't that why most roads get realigned?
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 01:23:32 PM
I didn't think this thread was about realignments of highways, but rather that an entirely different route, intended to be a bypass, is shorter than the 'through' route. Otherwise, wouldn't almost every realignment be shorter? Isn't that why most roads get realigned?
I think "faster" is a better way to describe a realignment - compare I-78 to US 22 in the Lehigh Valley.
In the case of US 101, Bayshore Freeway (and before that, Bayshore Highway) was indeed actually "US 101 Bypass" for years so I would say that counts.
Yes, we need to stop conflating the terms 'realignment' and 'bypass'..
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 02:13:25 PM
Yes, we need to stop conflating the terms 'realignment' and 'bypass'..
In the case of the portion of US-29 I cited, "realignment" was probably the wrong term, but the term "bypass" is itself not entirely clear in this case because the new bypass supersedes an old bypass route that has itself now become the new "business" route. US-29 Business used to go through a couple of city streets, while US-29 Bypass used the Lynchburg Expressway (a freeway on the east side of town; the freeway was a bit narrow and reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania's Interstates or I-68 in Cumberland, Maryland). The new bypass route is considerably further to the east and the former bypass is now US-29 Business; that latter designation, in turn, has been removed from the city streets it used to follow. Those are now VA-163.
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 02:13:25 PM
Yes, we need to stop conflating the terms 'realignment' and 'bypass'..
As 1995hoo pointed out though, sometimes this distinction still isn't clear at all in practice.
101 being shifted from El Camino Real to Bayshore is a realignment of the route...by placing it on what had been the designated bypass road.
I guess we could say that trying to straighten a route by avoiding curves, etc. would be a realignment that doesn't necessarily qualify as "bypass" but I think the examples I brought up do represent bypass roads being used as the new trajectory of those numbered routes.
NY 3A and NY 3 in the Carthage area are an interesting pair. Using NY 3 as a through route is about twice as long as NY 3A, yet NY 3A isn't even state maintained (it's a county road and passes through Fort Drum).
well, both my US 71 and US 165 examples are signed as a bypass at least once, even if they aren't called a bypass. Also one more I found: LA 1 and LA 6 bypass in Natchitoches, LA. You used to have to drive through the center of town for both of these routes. I measured distance and the LA 6 bypass is shorter in distance but the LA 1 isn't. In terms of time the bypasses are definitely a lot shorter because that town is so packed and tourist-y.
OK, well, depending on definitions, these may qualify.........
I can think of a couple of obvious ones in México.
The city of San Luis Potosà originally had highway 57 running right through town:
http://g.co/maps/rkbuw (http://g.co/maps/rkbuw)
The Anillo Periférico was later built as a ring road, and now provides the free bypass around the city:
http://g.co/maps/khd2b (http://g.co/maps/khd2b) 2.6 km shorter
Since that time, yet another bypass was constructed, forming the toll bypass–signed 57(D):
http://g.co/maps/z7ttn (http://g.co/maps/z7ttn) a further 7.7 km, for a total of 10.3 km shaved off
Farther south, the city of Querétaro originally had highway 57 running through town:
http://g.co/maps/pgn9j (http://g.co/maps/pgn9j)
Blvr. Bernardo Quintana provides the main free bypass, though it still quite urban:
http://g.co/maps/bnb4p (http://g.co/maps/bnb4p) 0.9 km shorter
Since that time, yet another bypass was constructed (the VÃa Corta), forming the toll bypass–signed 57(D):
http://g.co/maps/qvhrt (http://g.co/maps/qvhrt) 9 km shorter, for a total of 9.9 km shaved off
Querétaro has also seen the recent construction of a western bypass:
http://g.co/maps/vn8c8 (http://g.co/maps/vn8c8) 2.7 km shorter than the route through town, and is signed as 57(D) at least at the exit from 45(D).
Post Merge: March 23, 2012, 11:51:32 AM
Similarly.....
The new bypass around the town of Arriaga (Chis.) shaves 1.1 km off the original route through town–both signed as highway 200:
http://g.co/maps/yjw5x (http://g.co/maps/yjw5x)
The toll bypass around the city of Coatzacalcos (Ver.) shaves 4.6 km off the original route through town–the bypass signed as 180(D):
http://g.co/maps/ym2cn (http://g.co/maps/ym2cn)
Post Merge: December 31, 1969, 06:59:59 PM
And, following right along.....
The toll bypass–part of a larger beast–around Tecate (B.C.) is 1.6 km shorter than its free cousin through town.
http://g.co/maps/sjqkw (http://g.co/maps/sjqkw)
The thing that first came to my mind was I-10 and I-610 in New Orleans. I-10 goes into downtown then makes a sharp turn up, while I-610 is the shortcut across the gap.
The first one that came to my mind is US 61 at Lancaster, WI. The 'bypass' (WI 129) is much, much shorter than the marked route of US 61 through town.
http://maps.google.com/?ll=42.845639,-90.691452&spn=0.07174,0.110378&t=m&z=13
Some evidence that I have seen on the ground when I drove through that area a few years back leads me to think that WI 129 has (or had) aspirations of being more than it is now, too.
Mike
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 01:23:32 PM
I didn't think this thread was about realignments of highways, but rather that an entirely different route, intended to be a bypass, is shorter than the 'through' route. Otherwise, wouldn't almost every realignment be shorter? Isn't that why most roads get realigned?
No. Many bypasses go straight through town where the bypass swings around the town.
Quote from: bugo on March 23, 2012, 11:50:21 AM
Many bypasses go straight through town where the bypass swings around the town.
I think you might have misspoken. [Elaborated in a later post.]
US 42 at Plain City, OH. Old route through center of town, about 1½ miles at 35 MPH. New route, about ¾ mile at 50 MPH. Okay, it might be seen as a simple realignment which may have been done even if the town weren't there, but the project was definitely first posed as a "bypass of Plain City", intended to take trucks off streets at the city's center.
"Many." I didn't misspeak.
Quote from: bugo on March 23, 2012, 06:15:34 PM
"Many." I didn't misspeak.
I think you meant many "routes" rather than many "bypasses"
Quote from: bugo on March 23, 2012, 11:50:21 AM
Many bypasses go straight through town where the bypass swings around the town.
I don't disagree with what I think you meant, but what you actually typed doesn't make much of a sensible point. The first bolded word should have been something else, right?
Duh. Shoot me.
Is the CA 4 Bypass in Antioch/Oakley/Brentwood shorter than the actual (soon to be former) State Route 4?
How about when I-80 was built in Warren County, NJ? It replaced US 46 that is 8 miles longer than I-80 from Columbia to Netcong.
I-75 from Naples to Fort Myers in Florida cuts down the driving time wise than its companion US 41 by almost a half. I do not know if the distance is shorter, but US 41 between those two cities is red light city. You have many intersections in Fort Myers that have long wait signals and very frequent! You cannot go even a mile without being stopped at another major crossroad.
I-95 is definetly a godsend for US 1 from Fredericksburg, VA to probably Portland, ME with the many stop lights the old road has between these two points. Only from Bel Air, MD to Longwood Gardens in PA you have somewhat of open roading in Maryland and a freeway around Oxford and Kennett Square in PA on US 1. The rest is urbania or suburbia.
Quote from: texaskdog on March 21, 2012, 01:44:42 PM
US 61 in Duluth used to have the "bypass" straight thru, whereas 61 ran a few blocks up the hill, then came back down
Not sure of what you're referencing. U.S. 61 went "up the hill" from the original end of I-35 as far as 3rd and 4th Streets, then at about 10th Avenue East jogged down to London Road. MN-23 went further east and ended up on Superior St., eventually intersecting U.S. 61 east of the city. The MN-23 designation was removed before the completion of I-35. After I-35 was completed around downtown, 61 (by then a state highway) went away through the city and now begins at an end-to-end intersection with I-35 where it ends at London Road. I don't think there were any pre-I-35 bypasses of U.S. 61, but if you point something out I am missing I will look it up since I have maps.
It helps to understand that Duluth is on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and numbered Streets are parallel to the lakeshore. An increase in street number is also an increase in elevation. Avenues are perpendicular to the lakeshore.
Quote from: JustDrive on March 24, 2012, 01:44:27 PM
Is the CA 4 Bypass in Antioch/Oakley/Brentwood shorter than the actual (soon to be former) State Route 4?
It's 5 miles shorter to take the bypass road than the surface street Route 4.
How about the New River Gorge Bridge in WV? That made US 19 much shorter than its original alignment that was winding its way down the gorge to only do the same up hill across the river. Now its level and straight, so this is the best example of that.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 25, 2012, 02:50:19 PM
How about the New River Gorge Bridge in WV? That made US 19 much shorter than its original alignment that was winding its way down the gorge to only do the same up hill across the river. Now its level and straight, so this is the best example of that.
I'd say that's much more of a realignment than a bypass. The new Hoover Dam bypass, though, is both. If all you're doing is cutting mileage or time, it's a realignment. If you're getting around something, it's a bypass. If for whatever reason getting around something is less distance than going through it, then you have the subject of this thread.
US 66's second alignment - heading east of Albuquerque instead of north - bypassing Santa Fe is much shorter than going up through it and back down.
US 460's bypass of Blackstone and Nottoway is a mile or two shorter than the business route.
From what I can tell, US 41's current routing through the Green Bay, WI area is shorter than any of its older 'through town' routings.
Mike
Cannot forget about US 58 bypassing Courtland, VA. That is shorter than its original alignment through town, as the newer US 58 cuts a straight line while the other from west to east goes northward with VA 35 into town, then splits from VA 35 and heads southeastward. It is a shortcut for sure!
I am not sure about the Franklin- Holland Bypass though, but it may be shorter as well.
The Suffolk Bypass, of course, is longer, but for US 460 its shorter.
How about I-80 in Sacramento? It's routed like a "bypass" to Bus 80, and I believe the original 80 (now Bus 80) went straight thru downtown, and former I-880 (now I-80 mainline) bypassed to the north.
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 04:52:12 PM
Post Merge: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM
Whoa. This must have been the first message board ever created on the internet.
Quote from: exit322 on March 27, 2012, 11:19:49 AM
Quote from: kphoger on March 22, 2012, 04:52:12 PM
Post Merge: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM
Whoa. This must have been the first message board ever created on the internet.
It's just a glitch resulting from the loss of the timestamp when posts are merged multiple times. That's a default date in computing.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 26, 2012, 07:10:21 PM
The Suffolk Bypass, of course, is longer, but for US 460 its shorter.
The Farmville bypass is shorter for US 15 but longer for US 460. The Keysville bypass is also shorter than the business route.
Quote from: Mark68 on March 27, 2012, 05:24:37 AM
How about I-80 in Sacramento? It's routed like a "bypass" to Bus 80, and I believe the original 80 (now Bus 80) went straight thru downtown, and former I-880 (now I-80 mainline) bypassed to the north.
Today's Business 80 is about 1.4 miles longer than the current I-80 route/original I-880.